How old is the child who drew this?

[374jtwqj]

DS just gave me this picture. I know there is quite a lot of variation but how old do you think is the child who drew this?

5.5/6

I agree.
The joy of artistic expression and freedom is the most important aspect of a child's artwork. It should never be judged. Interest in the work and asking questions about what it is about is confidence building.
Teaching children to work with various materials and to learn and experiment with a multitude of methods of application allows them to grow in artistic expression.

Same here, at almost 70. But I make a mean carrot cake!

wow. My 2 year old is still drawing wonky lines and circles.

Do your kids really draw everyday? DS hardly ever bothers. He usually reads or plays lego or with cuddly toys.

Do your kids really draw everyday? DS hardly ever bothers. He usually reads or plays lego or with cuddly toys.

get him some colouring pencils and pens op
encourage his art

My kids do what they enjoy in their leisure time. I suggest activities but if they prefer other activities (that don’t involve a screen) then I don’t push it. Drawing isn’t an essential life skill. They can express creativity and work on fine motor skills in other ways. If you’re join for him to enjoy art would a paint set be more fun for him?

3-4

The absolute melts that come on to every thread and write a much younger age. It's the same every time. 3 years old, good fucking grief 🤦‍♀️. It's so cringy.

Yes I would have said 3, that's what DS's drawings looked like at that age and I didn't really have the interest to compare them to other kids. Only when he was 7 and suddenly did stuff I couldn't do when I realised he is actually quite talented and the drawings were not typical for that age.

My DS would have produced similar at 6 and isn't much better at 7. Eg unexceptional.

I'm honest with him that some people find drawing easier than others and that it doesnt matter, the point is to enjoy it! I also remind him that he's good at other things and almost no one is good at everything. He used to be bothered but has learned to be relaxed about it which i am pleased about. Its so important to learn resilience and cope with not being good at things and just keep having a go anyway.

Do your kids really draw everyday? DS hardly ever bothers. He usually reads or plays lego or with cuddly toys.

Nope! My DS likes board games, lego, reading. I'm not very good at drawing myself. I'm a happy, successful adult. It's not an especially essential skill.

It doesn’t matter OP.
My Mum, her siblings, her parents - all brilliant at art, craft, beautiful handwriting etc. I’m pretty good too.
My 2 sons are hopeless! They used to enjoy drawing and painting when they were really little, but not really beyond primary school. Both have terrible handwriting, despite the hours they were made to practice at primary school. Neither of them have the slightest interest in art. It’s just they way they are.

DS1 got good A levels and is at a Russell Group university. DS2 just got 6s and 7s in his mock GCSEs. Both very sporty, great coordination with a ball, just not with a pen! Lack of artistic talent is not going to hold my sons back, despite their dreadful handwriting!

*Dishwashersaurous · Yesterday 21:54

2 or 3 or possibly 4. But definitely pre school age*

Ha

I don’t see why it matters. Some kids/people are more artistic than others, I know many adults that couldn’t do much better, I also know 3/4 year olds that do amazing drawings. Surely learning to read and write is more important than artistic skills?

My dd loves drawing, she’s severely autistic and her writing is terrible. Everyone has different skills.

*Dishwashersaurous · Yesterday 21:54

2 or 3 or possibly 4. But definitely pre school age
wow. My 2 year old is still drawing wonky lines and circles.*

Mine could barely hold a pen at 2 but recognised all letters & knew their sounds and could read fluently, properly with phonics, at 4. He's still absolutely shite at drawing but top of his school on tt rockstars so go figure. Takes all sorts.

Between 5 and 7, there is a lot of detail and all the space has been used, it is confident and there is good use of colour. So much depends on the child, how much time they get to draw, whether they actually like it and if it something they are naturally inclined to do to express themselves. It's a nice picture and I like it.

4

You can't be "behind" in drawing because there is no level you need to be at. You can be completely crap at it for your whole life and it will not matter a jot.

You can be "behind" in things like speech/language, motor skills like walking or in reading, because actually you will struggle a lot in life/need support if you cannot reach the required level in these areas.

Art is subjective, there's not really such a thing as bad art, especially done by children. There is only what someone personally considers good.
His drawings should be an expression of something he is thinking/feeling/seeing etc not something he thinks will be judged.

@374jtwqj

I was going to say six because that’s what my DS would have done at that age.

But he has ASD, ADHD, Dyslexia and Dyscalculia and is 2yrs developmentally behind. So the general consensus of 4 is probably bang on.

If he’s struggling in a number of areas approach his teacher/senco for a discussion and get GP to refer for assessment if necessary.

It’s fine. It’s drawing. Drawing is not a life skill. If Picasso’s signature was on it it would sell for millions. I guessed five so not far out.

I think it shows loads of potential. He's clearly observant and trying to get some of the birds right. It's a great picture. He sounds frustrated because he can tell that his skill level doesn't match what he wants to be able to draw. My DC were the same. Both actually v good at drawing from an early age but often disappointed with their pictures.

It looks fine for 6. It's perhaps not the most skillful art ever (still at least as good as my efforts!), but you can tell it's not a really young child because of the accuracy & attention to detail - right number of legs, ears, tail etc. on animals; scale (trees are bigger than animals, flowers are smaller); convention of blue sky on top, green grass underneath and so on. He has clearly made a real effort, e.g. blending different colours in the sun, having different species of tree.

If he wants to improve in drawing, there are steps you can take, as other pp have said, but I wouldn't be at all worried by his development.

FWIW, I did an art activity with 14 & 15 year olds recently. There was a huge variety in their artistic abilities, with no correlation at all to their performance on the rest of the course more widely.

I've absolutely no idea about what kind of drawings a child should do at different ages. I don't know if there are different expectations in terms of accuracy or different styles that come in at different ages. But I just wanted to say I'm an artist and I really really like this drawing.

I love the use of colour and the energy and I really love the humour in it. The cat up the tree is class! As an overall picture it is really fun and humorous and I'd have loved to get something like that.

Children get an idea in their heads that they are good at this and bad at that. Then give up on the things they feel they were "bad" at which could have added so much to their lives in terms of fun or focus or expression. It becomes a thing where they don't enjoy a certain thing as it makes them feel bad. But drawing is for everyone, at any age. I was considered very good at drawing as a child but I think largely the reason is I did it a lot and the reason for that is that it was my thing and I had lots of access to pens and paints and paper and I could do what I wanted. I also had access to books of paintings which was inspiring. Thinking back a lot of my friends had no paper lying about all over the place or access to other artworks to look at. It just wasn't a part of their lives really.

School demands a certain thing artwise. Then later on you find there are a tonload of people out there who can draw fairly representationally but get stuck just doing fairly representation studies and not doing anything with it, perhaps forever. The key thing is having your own thing you enjoyr or say or do with it. The other thing is that people who are great at drawing are not always that good at painting and vice versa. We get obsessed with lines around things in drawing. Whereas painting is about colour and boldness and not about the lines.

I love the use of the colours and blocks of vibrant and energetic felt tip in this. I like the way it's not about lines but about those blocks of colour. I adore the humour.

Perhaps try giving him more detailed feedback and encouragement. Maybe do some drawing with him so he can see it's fun rather than something from school that he feels bad about. Please don't let him get so down on himself about a great drawing that was a beautiful and fun gift.

Maybe he doesn't want to draw, but the sadness you describe about his attitude to his drawing is heartbreaking when I'm looking at such a lively and zingy piece.